Dr. Don Melrose

An Outstanding Islander

Exercise is Medicine

Ask Dr. Don Melrose if it’s safer for people with physical limitations or concerns to exercise or to remain sedentary, and he’ll come back with one of his favorite sayings – “Exercise is medicine.”

Melrose, an associate professor of kinesiology, is an expert in exercise application for groups including women who are pregnant, senior citizens, and children. In addition, every semester he and his students host the “Exercise is Medicine Symposium” to teach how exercise can mitigate the negative effects of common diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, obesity, and heart disease.

Since coming to the University in 1999, Melrose has seen the kinesiology program grow from around 200 to more than 650 students. An expert in exercise physiology, psychology of sports, and exercise assessment and prescription, he currently leads research on the TRX suspension system, a resistance training apparatus popular in fitness, athlete training, and rehabilitation facilities.

“It’s a new avenue in resistance exercise that is versatile, affordable, and appeals to a wide population,” said Melrose, who has been weight training and exercising for three decades. “It’s really caught on despite the fact that there’s very little research behind it, and we want to find out how this training system can be used to prescribe exercise.”

Melrose, a certified strength and conditioning specialist with distinction, also serves as Texas state director for the National Strength and Conditioning Association. He also conducts research on the DexaScanner, which measures bone density and body composition, and has been used to diagnose osteoporosis.

“This equipment can reveal the density of a person’s bones, and has accurate predictability when it comes to the subjects’ chances of fractures, and other injuries,” he said.

Steroids are another of Melrose’s areas of expertise. He has published papers on how illegal anabolic steroids are distributed over the Internet, and the risks of using steroids of unknown origins.